Drum winding apparatus for threads



Nov. 5 E935. R. w. MoNcRlEx-F Er AL 2,039,623

I DRUM WINDING APPARATUS FOR THREADS` Filed Jan. 9. 1954 fa FIGJ- 41FIGQ;

53 1,7 RoBERT w. MUNCRIEFF ERNEST LaREENwaoD /m/f/vros Patented Nov. 5,1935 man HREADS DRUM WINDNG APPARATUS FORv Robert Wighton Moncrieff andErnest Leslie Greenwood, Spondon, near Derby,

England,

assignors to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of DelawareApplication January 9, 1934, Serial No. 705,864 In Great Britain January18, 1933 2 Claims.

This invention relates to thread winding mechanisms and moreparticularly to drum winding apparatus for bobbins or like packages inwhich a thread or a number of threads are taken from 5' "a package orfrom a number of packages or other source of supply and are Wound on toa bobbin or similar supporting medium driven by contact with the surfaceof the drum. This type of winding apparatus has the great advantage thatthe winding speed, being determined by the peripheral speed of the drum,can be made independent of the size of the package, and, where thepackage is cylindrical, can be quite uniform throughout the winding ofthe package. To wind successfully, however, it has hitherto beenessential that the thread or threads proceeding to the winding apparatusshould be quite free to proceed thereto, since if the thread is held orretarded even momentarily, the continued rotation of the Y package bythe drum strains or breaks the thread. This, however, represents aserious limitation in theapplicability of this type of winding apparatusin textile operations, where it is frequently required to wind threadwhich is continuously delivered independently of the winding operation.1n view of the diculty of synchronizing the rates of delivery andtake-up, the thread is liable to be wound either under excessive andincreasing tension, which may strain or eventually break it,

or under too little tension` when slack winding results.

The object of the present invention is to provide a drum windingapparatus in which the winding rate is automatically adjusted inaccordance with the rate of thread delivery without applying unduestrain, when the delivery of the thread is reduced or even stopped.

With this object in view, a drum-winding apparatus according to theinvention comprises a package-driving drum which is frictionally driven,the amount of friction being such that the peripheral speed of the drumcan automatically adjust itself to the rate at which thread is 4delivered to the package. The package rests on the drum and so is drivenat a corresponding peripheral speed.

With this arrangement, therefore, it is possible to wind even verydelicate thread in such a manner that in spite of possible variation intension or irregularity in the rate of supply, the thread is not broken,strained, or damaged. Should the thread delivery even stop completely,the drum as well as the package is held stationary by the 55 thread, sothat danger of the package being spoiled by the drum rubbing over it isavoided.

One form of apparatus according to the invention will now be describedin greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which60 Fig. l shows in part-sectional front elevation a winding drum andbobbin for winding cylindrical packages;

Fig. 2 is a part-sectional end elevation of the `winding drum andbobbin;

Fig. 3 shows diagrammatically in front eleva- 5 tion a plurality ofwinding devices `driven by a common shaft; while Fig. 4 is adiagrammatic end elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, a winding drum 6 is mount- 10 ed on a driving shaft'I and comprises an external cylinder B to which are riveted hubs 9, I0extending inwardly from the ends of the cylinder. The hubs 9, I0 arebored to a larger diameter than the diameter of the driving shaft 'I toreceive 15'` bushes II, I2 respectively, which may be pressed into, orotherwise secured in, the bores. The bushes II, I2 ride freely onreduced portions I3, I4, respectively, of sleeves I5, I6 surrounding theshaft 1 and xed thereto by set screws Il, which 20 pierce raisedcollar-.portions I8 formed in the sleeves at their outer extremities.The bush Il abuts at its left-hand extremity against an annular surfaceI9 formed in an enlarged portion of the sleeve I5, and is maintained incontact 25 therewith by a compression spring 29, which is housedadjacent the bush I2 in an annular slot 2l formed in an enlarged portionof the sleeve I6, the force in the spring being'transmitted to the bushI2 through a flanged sleeve 22, the annular 30 surface of which abutsagainst the end of the bush.

The body of the drum is thus urged laterally towards the sleeve I5, thesurfaces I9, 22 driving the drum by frictional contact with the bushes35 li and I2 respectively. The pressure between the opposing surfacescan simply be adjusted in accordance with the degree of friction desiredby moving the sleeve I6 towards or away from the drum, therebyincreasing or decreasing the force 41Vl in the spring 20.

The sleeves l5, I6 are provided with grease 4conduits 23, 24,respectively, leading from greasegun nipples 25, screwed into thecollar-portions I8, to the outer extremities of the bushes II, I2, 45

from which the conduits extend as shallow grooves in the surface of thereduced portions I3, UI, almost to the inner extremities of the bushes.Grease contained within the conduits thus serves to lubricate the bushesand so provides for free movement of the drum. Felt washers or pads Z8,encircling the outer extremities of the bushes I I, I2 prevent leakageof grease to the outside of the hubs 9, Il). The sleeves I5, I8 areformed with disc-like portions 3d, to fit into the ends of the 55 drum.The disc: portions serve to keep the drum compact and easy to clean,theirv edges beingv shaped so as just'to clear the hubs 9, Il), whilepreventing waste or dirt from entering the interior of the drum.

In order that the drum may have a secure grip upon the package beingwound, the drum is covered by fabric 32, or other material, having ahigh coeflcient of friction. This covering reduces any tendency foroverrunning or rubbing between the drum and the package, therebypreventing fraying and like damaging of the thread, and in addition,serves to distribute the drive evenly along the length of the package.The driving shaft 1 is rotated in such a manner that the drum tends torotate at a rate somewhat in excess of the normal rate of delivery ofthe thread to be wound, so that slack thread caused, for example, bypiecing-up a new thread, or in starting-up a winding process, is takenup by the package immediately.

Winding takes place at substantially uniform tension throughout thebuilding of the package, Whatever the rate of winding, and the danger ofstrain or breakage of the thread experienced in ordinary drum windingapparatus is considerably lessened. The pressure at the frictionsurfaces I9, 22 is adjusted in accordance with the amount of tensionwhich may safely be imparted to the thread being wound. Thus, forexample, in winding a fragile thread the frictional force will be lessthan required when winding a stronger thread. The application of alubricant to the frictional surfaces allows of free movement of the drum6 about the driving shaft 'I and also enables a much more sensitivecontrol over the frictional drive from the shaft to the drum to beachieved. It is understood, of course, that only a slight driving effortis necessary to rotate the drum and the package, the effort being lessthan the maximum tension permissible in the thread. Therefore, oncessation or interruption of the thread feed the pull of the threadacting at the periphery of the drum 6 overcomes the driving torqueapplied frictionally to the bushes II, I2. In order to make the windingdevice capable of use with very delicate threads, the drums 6 and hubs9, IU may be made of light metal such as aluminium, the inserted bushesI I, I2 being made of suitable bearing metal such as phosphor bronze. Inthis way, the inertia of the drum can be considerably reduced.

The apparatus according to the invention is suitable for application ina large number of textile operations. For example, it may be used forwinding artificial threads continuously with their production, e. g.continuously with the production of cellulose acetate threads orfilaments produced by the dry or evaporative method. It is also of greatadvantage where a plurality of ends of thread are delivered from acommon source and are required to be wound on separate packages, and isparticularly suitable for use where a plurality of threads of anartificial material have been subjected to mass-treatment, and are woundseparately. Thus, as shown in Fig. 4, a plurality of threads 33proceeding from a common source, (for example, from the stretchingapparatus for artificial threads described in U. S. applications S. Nos.602,844 filed 2nd April, 1932, and 656,514 led 11th February, 1933, notshown) are led through guides 34 on a fixed rod 35 and proceed upwardlyin turn to bobbins 36 contacting with a line of drums 6. Traverse guides31 fixed Ato a rod 38 reciprocated by cam or crank means (not shown),engage the threads between the guides 34 and the bobbins 36 and traversethe threads to and fro along the bobbins, the rate of take-up of thethread being uniform along the length of the package. The bobbins 36 aremounted on spindles 39 (see Fig. 1), the extremities of which ride inslots 4U formed in supporting heads 4I, the slots being of such depthsas 5 to permit of the spindles 39 rising within them as the bobbins iillwith thread. When packages of conical formation are being wound thespindles 39 are substituted by conically-formed packagesupport holdershaving lextremities adapted to fit 10 into the slots 40. I

In addition to being suitable for the winding of artificial threadstreated in the manner described in U. S. applications S. Nos. 602,844and 656,514, the apparatus according to the invention is suit- 15 ablefor winding artificial or other threads which i have undergone suchtreatments as sizing, saponification or dyeing treatments in warp formand afterwards require to be wound on to bobbins. g) The drum-windingapparatus above described enables each thread (or two or more threadstogether) to be rapidly applied to the bobbin, and any slack formed intransferring a thread from the continually delivered warp sheet isquickly 4 taken up, after which winding proceeds at exactly f the rateof delivery of the thread, so that the thread is evenly Wound withoutdanger of strain.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. In ayarn-winding apparatus in which a package is driven by surface contactwith a rotatable drum, a rotatable shaft, a freely rotatable drum,having annular surfaces, journalled on said u shaft, sleeves fixed onsaid shaft at each end of said drum, annular surfaces on said sleeves,means making frictional contact between the annular surfaces of saiddrum and the annular surfaces on said sleeves adapted to transmit fromsaid shaft n to said drum a torque which is limited to permit theperipheral speed of the drum to adjust itself to the rate at which yarnis delivered to the package, and means including a passageway in said Isleeves for lubricating the journal surfaces and 45 the frictionalsurfaces so as to allow of free rotation between said journal surfacesand at the same time to permit of sensitive adjustment of the torqueapplied from, said shaft through said friction means to said drum. 50 2.In a yarn-winding apparatus in which a package is driven by surfacecontact with e. rotatable drum, a rotatable shaft, a freely rotatabledrum, having annular surfaces, journalled on said shaft, sleeves fixedon said shaft at each end of Il said drum, annular surfaces on saidsleeves, means making frictional contact between the annular surfaces ofsaid drum and the annular surfaces on said sleeves adapted to transmitfrom said shaft to saiddrum a torque which is limited to 00 permit theperipheral speed of the drum to adjust itself to the rate at which yarnis delivered to the package, and means including a passageway extendingsubstantially the full length of said sleeves for lubricating thejournal surfaces 55 and the frictional surfacesso as to allow of freerotation between said journal surfaces and at the same time to permit ofsensitive adjustment of the torque applied from said shaft through saidfriction means to said drum.

ROBERT WIGHTON MONCRIEFF. ERNEST LESLIE GREENWOOD.

